The Book
by Vader's Fallen Angel
Summary: One who holds the knowledge of a past long gone. Can be taken as a companion piece to Beyond the Stars but can also stand alone.


The book was expensive. All paper was expensive in a world that mainly relied on data pads and the like. But for the (rich) eccentric there was paper. This particular book was made of blank sheets of paper and placed on a shelf in a specialty store. This particular store, and book, was meant for those with babies, or those that would soon have them.

The store had several customers on the day the book was bought, including a senator's golden protocol droid who had come into to purchase a number of things for his mistress. He collected all the things on his list, including the book and returned.

The next hands the book was in were human. A beautiful brown haired woman ran her fingers across the pages with a smile. Then she wrote on the first in a graceful, flowing script.

_My beloved child,_

_I don't know if you're girl or a boy yet and I don't plan to find out until you're placed in my arms. I found out about you only a month ago, and I've never been so happy in my life. It was a shock at first; your father and I didn't plan to start a family yet. Now I can't stop thinking how wonderful it will be. You were created out of the boundless love your father and I hold for each other. And to think, when he started courting me I proclaimed that I had better things to do than to fall in love!_

_This is my first piece of advice to you. Do not be afraid to love. This relates to romantic love, but also the love between siblings, friends, parents and children. Love is a beautiful, wonderful thing. Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's easy, but in the end, if the love is true, then it's always perfect. I remember a poem I memorized for class once when I was little –  
_

_The dark is generous and is patient._

_It's the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt._

_The dark is generous and is patient – but in its heart lies its weakness:_

_A lone candle is enough to hold it back._

_Love is more than a candle, love can ignite the stars._

_I have no doubt, my little Skywalker, that you shall give the universe the light it needs most. Revenge, hatred, ambition, anger, and arrogance twist and destroy from the inside. Forgiveness, love, perseverance, hope, and faith heal the broken and can give people the strength they need when all seems lost._

_I think that if you are a boy you will be named Luke Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker meaning One of Great Power, Anakin meaning Warrior, Luke meaning Light. So your name would mean Powerful Warrior of Light. I'm sure you'll be the greatest defender of the light this universe will ever see. (Don't tell your father I said that. He __will__ pout so.) Remember though, not all battles are won through strength of arms; some are won through strength of heart._

_Forgive me if you are a girl, I haven't thought up a girl's name yet. For now I'm calling you "my little light". Perhaps you shall take offense to the obvious reference to the name Luke, but I hardly think you would like to be called "it" for nine months, even if you can't hear me yet._

_I still have my baby book from when my mother was carrying me. I hope you keep this book just as long. I hope that I'm a good mother and that you grow up to be a person of character. No matter what happens, I want you to know your parents love you._

_I love you Precious Light._

.

Months later the book was in different hands. One hand was human, the other was machine. A powerful man with too many shadows in his blue eyes flipped through. His face softened as he read a little here and a little there. Then he wrote with bold, defined letters.

**My treasured little one,**

**I just found out about you two days ago and I'm happier than I could ever say. Your mother showed me this book and told me about it. Apparently it's a custom of her people. As soon as a pregnancy is confirmed they acquire something to write on and with. Then the parents write notes and letters to their yet unborn child. Apparently this is a tradition from an older time where death was more common. The Naboo are pacifists, but in their beginning, as with most planets, war was much more common. So these books were the only ways some children would know their fathers. And with such primitive technology woman often died in childbirth-**

**Anyways, sorry for the history lesson. I figured that isn't the sort of lesson that your mom was talking about.**

**You'll be pleased to know that I have discovered that you are in fact a girl. You'll be less pleased to know that your mom doesn't believe me. Either way I get to name you. Leia Amidala Skywalker. As Angel said earlier, Skywalker means "one of great power". Amidala means "ruler" or "strong of heart". Leia means "fire-child". This needs a bit of explaining. Fire-child means "passionate" or "fiery". So one translation of your name comes out to "spirited princess". Considering the stubbornness your parents have I doubt that you will ever be walked over. But on Tatooine, it holds another meaning as well. On my home planet the suns control our lives. From the lowest slave to the most powerful hutt, all must bow their heads to the suns. Even after our harshest times, the sandstorms, they will be there when we emerge. So on Tatooine it means "****unbowed," "unbroken," "****unbeaten," or "unconquerable". Taking the second meaning of your mother's royal name, your name means "****undefeated**** heart". I hope that no matter what happens, and I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing ever does, that you will never give into those who do you harm.**

**But now for my advice. What could I tell you? Listen to your mother seems like the best one honestly. Let's see.**

**1. Remember your family. In the end they're the people that matter most and are sometimes the people that go the fastest.**

**2. Seek the truth. Seek the truth in the outside world, but also inside yourself and your own heart. Things may not always be as they first appear.**

**3. Be a person you would be honored to know. Fight for what you believe in, be loyal to your friends, be honest with yourself and those you trust.**

**I have encountered three Sith in my life: Maul, Dooku, and Grievous. Not to mention an adept by the name of Asajj Ventress. Sidious is still out there, though I pray he will be dead by the time you are born. While I never want you to ever encounter a Sith, you may meet up with evil. Understand this first, I was born a slave to a hutt, spent years enforcing peace through arms, then spent the remainder of my life in war except for brief periods of time with your mother.**

**I know evil.**

**It is the desire of all parents that their offspring may be better than them. I hope that in this case you will be stronger than me. I don't want you to ever know evil child, but if you do, if you should encounter a Sith for example, I want you to forgive it. Some scholar that Obi-Wan really likes named Lewis B. Smedes or something close said, "when we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let it horror, shock, stun, and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it." I do not want you to condone evil my little fire-child, but to fight it. Even more importantly, I want you to understand that by holding on to hatred, you pour hot coals onto your own lap and only hurt yourself in the end.**

**It's getting late, it's already early morning Coruscant time. I'm at the temple. I could say that I'm up writing at this time so that no one will catch me. Having someone see me writing in this book would certainly lead to some questions. But the real reason is that I don't want to go to sleep. I love your mother so much – but you don't need to hear my ramblings.**

**I love you my Brilliant Fire-Child.**

.

Not a month later two mechanical hands picked up the book. They turned it over, and then reverently placed it in a chest along with other memories of a life long gone. The chest was then taken to a dark castle and locked away in a heavily guarded room.

.

Every once in a while, not often, a broken monster would enter the room. He would open the chest and lightly touch the contents, not wanting to taint them, as he remembered what it was like to be human. He sometimes opened the book and pretended that he was a father and that his hands were human and not so stained with blood. Then the monster sealed it all away to return to slavery as the resurrected specter of a hero died once more and laid himself to rest next to a box of memories.

.

Different mechanical hands raised the lid for the last time.

"Well I can't see anything worthwhile in here."

A series of beeps and whistles followed.

"Well we can't save every trinket. Mistress Leia ordered us to just bring what was particularly significant. None of this is."

Again the astro-droid responded.

"The only thing that might be worthwhile is this book, not that I expect you to understand how expensive paper is you rolling trash can."

The response showed that said "rolling trash can" did not think highly of his friend either.

"Well what would you know you repair kit with delusions of grandeur? There's an entire castle to look through! We can't bother them for every little thing. Master Luke said to alert him if we found anything important. None of this is. Look, even this book is ruined. There's writing on almost every page. Utterly useless."

Luckily for the protocol droid there was a fireplace in the room and his counterpart had already lit it. His master and mistress were busy and he was happy, if a droid could feel at all, that he could dispose of this problem without bothering them. After all, he was programmed to please his owners. He got rid of the worthless thing and continued to look through the chest. Nothing really at all was in there. A series of what looked like love letters, a few photos, a pair of wedding rings, a wedding certificate, a diary, one black glove… nothing worth any note. Why this room had been so heavily guarded was beyond him. Really, humans were so impractical sometimes. Behind him the fire crackled over it's new fuel.

The book burned.


End file.
